Missed GP appointments in Northamptonshire cost NHS £250,000 per month

Missed GP appointments cost the NHS in Northamptonshire £250,000 in just one month, new statistics have revealed.
Missed GP appointments are costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a yearMissed GP appointments are costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year
Missed GP appointments are costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced this week that missed GP appointments cost the NHS £162m each year and missed hospital appointments as much as £750m.

Research by Nene CCG, which covers all of Northamptonshire apart from Corby, last year showed there were 10,000 missed GP appointments in May 2014, costing the NHS an estimated £250,000.

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Mr Hunt said the NHS also spends £300 million a year on ‘wasted medicines” and has announced plans to publish the cost of all medicines over £20 on packaging which will also be marked ‘funded by the UK taxpayer’.

Mr Hunt said: “This will not just reduce waste by reminding people of the cost of medicine, but also improve patient care by boosting adherence to drug regimes. I will start the processes to make this happen this year, with an aim to implement it next year.”